GURPS Martial Arts - Home

Special-Case NPCs
Non-player characters should generally be subject
to the same rules as PCs. Needlessly dangling options
in front of the players that they can’t exercise – but that
the GM’s alter egos can – erodes GM-player relations.
There are situations where it’s appropriate to make
exceptions, however.
Cinematic NPCs in Realistic Games: A martial-arts
master with cinematic abilities provides a handy way
to segue from a realistic campaign to a hybrid or cinematic
one. Often he’s a teacher, helping the PCs develop
cinematic abilities of their own. In a conspiracy or
horror game – and even in some kinds of pulp and fantasy
– a fighter with cinematic martial-arts abilities is a
suitable opponent. In that case, it’s crucial that the GM
portray the villain’s capabilities as mysterious and dangerous
– like black magic – so that the players experience
fear or moral superiority, not jealousy.
Realistic NPCs in Cinematic Games: In games
where the PCs are bouncing off walls and swinging
from chandeliers, it’s traditional for “cannon fodder”
NPCs to lack access to cinematic abilities and combat
options that the PCs take for granted. If the campaign
has horror overtones or focuses on epic moral conflict
– both of which feature in many martial-arts movies –
it’s true-to-genre for certain foes to be dangerous
because a number of realistic rules apply when fighting
them. For instance, the faceless knights of the evil
overlord might have no special skills and rely on armor
for defense . . . but hitting them with bare fists hurts
(Harsh Realism for Unarmed Fighters, p. 124) and they
fight dirty, chopping off limbs and targeting vital areas
(Realistic Injury, pp. 136-139).
Strengths: Gamers who like to play action heroes can pull
it off by spending character points to buy successes or burning
FP for extra effort. Players who prefer a trusty, no-frills
sword or gun can have that, too – and the points they save
by avoiding massive investments in flashy skills such as
Acrobatics can buy combat skills that make them as effective
as their showoff teammates. A fair compromise, but
compare Rubber Realism (p. 240).
Weaknesses: Too cinematic for some diehard realists,
who will see enough of the pro-realism bias in the combat
system to want more. Those who like cinematic games may
be frustrated at the “glass wall” between them and the
really cool optional rules. Powerful borderline-realistic PCs
can do through brute force much of what cinematic
ones can do with special abilities, defeating the point of
choosing a realistic campaign.
THE CINEMATIC CAMPAIGN
The cinematic world is that of martial-arts movies and
legend. In a cinematic game, martial artists can do the
impossible – or at least the highly improbable. As with realistic
games, abilities and combat rules both make a contribution
to the overall “feel,” and the GM must make choices
238 CAMPAIGNS
that satisfy his expectations and those of his players. Below
are some Martial Arts-specific guidelines to supplement the
general advice on cinematic campaigns on pp. B488-489.
Cinematic Characters
Cinematic PCs (and NPCs) should have access to incredible
abilities. As noted under Cinematic Martial Artists
(p. 30), these can range from a few cinematic skills, through
superhuman attributes and exotic advantages, to fullfledged
super-powers – and perhaps include all of these
things – depending on the GM’s plans for the campaign.
Minimum power level is around 200 points, simply because
the PCs have to be able to afford such abilities.
Unlike realistic campaigns, cinematic campaigns don’t
demand that abilities line up with occupations. The cook at
the noodle stand is often a master of chopping more than
vegetables, the foppish duke could be a deadly swordsman,
and the mild-mannered reporter might be a superhero by
night. What matters isn’t that a hero’s skills are realistic –
because they won’t be – but that they’re consistent with the
legends about his fighting style and with his personal style.
Still, the templates in Chapter 2 can help players design
many kinds of heroes found in martial-arts fiction – just
apply the “Cinematic” lens! For instance, the ninja of legend
would use the cinematic Assassin or Spy template, while an
action-movie vigilante has the cinematic Crimefighter template.
Several templates provide a “Tough Guy” lens for the
player who wants his PC to thrive in a cinematic environment
without flashy moves – an important archetype in
many martial-arts tales.
Cinematic heroes should have at least some of the cinematic
skills, techniques, and Style Perks listed for their style
in Chapter 5, and probably several optional traits. This
makes the style lenses under Choosing a Style (pp. 144-146)
unsuitable, since they specifically exclude cinematic skills
and techniques. However, “Self-Defense” and “Trained by a
Fraud” have a way of showing up in silly stories . . . and
tough guys without cinematic skills often have the
“Military,” “Police,” or “Street” lens.
Above all, a cinematic PC or NPC needs a strong sense of
his place in the campaign. Be he a bumbling fool with
untapped talent, a brooding assassin, a square-jawed pulp
hero, or a romantic swashbuckler, his personality, actions,
fighting style, and gear should paint a single, vivid picture.
For instance, cinematic ninja dress in black and use swords,
not guns; pulp heroes do carry guns, but prefer fists; and
swashbucklers use swords and pistols, but dress in lace and
avoid skulking and brutish fisticuffs.
Mad, Crazy Action
Cinematic campaigns should move quickly and emphasize
action over detail. When the heroes are taking on guns
with fists and dashing up tree trunks, it’s missing the point
to worry about how hard it is to stand up in armor (you can
do acrobatics in armor!) or whether it’s possible to throw a
Back Kick while seated (over the shoulder, of course!).
Cinematic games should therefore avoid the high-detail
options recommended for realistic campaigns in Combat
Realism (pp. 237-238) – particularly those suggested under
Gritty Realism. Instead, the GM should use the cinematic